Some interesting—and impactful—research work has been coming out of the StFX FluxLab.
Dr. Amanda Bryant, FluxLab research associate and energy and climate policy researcher, recently published an article in The Observer. Her article is based on a study conducted by FluxLab researchers that looked at communities with exposure to higher-than-average methane concentrations and examined the relationship between methane, air quality, and potential related health issues.
Elise Canning, FluxLab research assistant, has an article in The Conversation that breaks down a recent FluxLab study exploring the first year of leak detection and repair (LDAR) regulations in B.C. The study, published in Climate Policy, found an alarmingly low compliance rate among oil and gas producers.
Ms. Canning, a 2023 StFX honours English graduate from Antigonish, NS who will start a master’s degree in world literature at the University of Warwick in England this fall, joined the FluxLab as an undergraduate student in 2022 and is working as a full-time lab assistant this summer. She primarily researches methane mitigation policy options.
Drawing on the newly published study by FluxLab researchers, her article outlines the policy lessons and implications including how the study illustrates that regulation is only a first step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“The idea was to communicate what these findings means, so that the everyday person is able to understand. We wanted to reach a wider audience, to pique people’s interests and make some changes,” she says.
In 2020 a first round of methane regulations came into effect in British Columbia's oil and gas sector, which requires periodic leak detection and repair (LDAR) surveys at oil and gas facilities to reduce unintentional methane emissions caused by leaking infrastructure. Ms. Canning says the study found that companies demonstrated only 62 per cent compliance with the provincial regulation.
“This is a major problem because the modelling on which emissions reduction regulations are based assumes 100 per cent compliance. This means that 100 per cent compliance is required to achieve the outcomes that the regulations were designed to promote. So, 95 per cent wouldn't be good enough to reach emissions reduction targets, 62 per cent really isn't good enough.”
The study breaks down what low compliance means for Canada's goal of reaching net-zero by 2025, and what lessons can be taken from the first year of LDAR regulation.
In her paper, Ms. Canning looks at why the regulation isn’t working, what we can learn from it, and how we can address it, especially around methods that should be implemented. She says one issue that makes it hard to achieve compliance is that there is no enforcement mechanism.
Ms. Canning says it was exciting to be involved in sharing the research findings.
“It was a really cool experience,” she says. “I always really liked research. A lot of my undergraduate degree was writing research papers. I like the satisfaction of making connections."
STUDYING IMPLICATIONS
Dr. Bryant is an energy and climate policy researcher interested in the challenges and opportunities to meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly those associated with oil and gas activity. She received her PhD in philosophy from the City University of New York Graduate Center in 2017. She joined the FluxLab on contract in March 2023 to bring a policy lens to the lab's scientific research. “The lab's scientists gather and analyze data, while I try to figure out the ’so what’ implications — what are the problems that need to be addressed via government policy, and what sorts of policy options would best address them? For instance, how could government policy recognize methane from oil and gas as an air quality and human health issue in addition to a powerful climate forcer? I have also compared U.S. methane regulations to Canadian ones (here) and examined the potential effectiveness of new rules pertaining to oil and gas sustainability reporting.”
Dr. Bryant says StFX earth sciences professor and FluxLab head Dr. Dave Risk and Dr. Martin Lavoie are leading the research on which her article is based.
“Prior scientific research — particularly in the States — has shown that pollutants associated with methane from oil and gas activity undermine air quality and harm human health. Dave and Martin were interested in looking at how that plays out in Canada and which particular communities are impacted. So they’ve analyzed data pertaining to oil and gas activity, together with census data, to map out pollutant loads and identify communities of potential concern.”
While the results are still preliminary and confidential, in general terms, she says certain communities in Alberta are more exposed to air pollutants associated with oil and gas activity than others. “We would predict that people living in those communities have worse health outcomes, and the next phase of the research will look at health data to see whether the evidence bears that out.”
It’s an important area to focus research, she says.
“Both people and planet are intrinsically valuable, and we have seen through history how industrial activity can significantly harm both. So it’s important to keep studying and cultivating a deeper understanding of those impacts so we can recognize harms. At the same time, in some historical cases, government policy has done wonders for pollution without hurting competitiveness. In the 90s, for instance, (Prime Minister Brian) Mulroney directed significant government funds toward cutting sulphur emissions, which effectively curbed acid rain. Strong government action on environmental issues can make a real difference — so it’s important to identify and advocate for smart, ambitious policy options.”
Dr. Bryant says what draws her to energy and climate policy is that it’s both important and hard. “Important because we want ourselves and future generations to be able not only to survive but also to flourish on this planet. Hard because the energy transition is a complex puzzle with many pieces — technical, social-political, ethical, economic, and regulatory. So there’s a lot to learn, a lot to grapple with, and a lot we need to get right.”
